The Week That Was: Week Six

We’re at the halfway point and the cream is starting to rise to the top but some teams aren’t going down without a fight. All of that and more, this is the week that was!

(Side note I’m sorry for lack of Sun Belt in this article but it was a flat week for the conference. DON’T worry there will be plenty in week seven’s!)

Games of the week

1. Eastern Michigan at Western Michigan: Raise your hand if you’ve heard this one before, Eastern Michigan loses a close game... anyone? This is an all too familiar story for Eagles fans and this time it comes at the hands of hated rival Western Michigan. The Broncos pulled ahead by ten late in the game but just like every other game this year Eastern Michigan would not go away. They scored with just over 2 minutes left to make it a three point game. But the late surge would not be enough and Western Michigan would take the win, 27-24. The Broncos are a quiet 4-2 this year and now lead the MAC West.

2. San Diego State at Boise State: The Aztecs seem to get better each week in typical Rocky Long fashion. Boise State was the preseason darling of the Mountain West and group of five but this week they ran into a buzz-saw. This low scoring affair saw each defense throw haymakers back and forth but it would be San Diego State’s that made more plays. The Aztecs held the high scoring Broncos offense to just thirteen points. It would be Jordan Byrd’s 72 yard touchdown run that sealed the win for San Diego State on the blue turf, 19-13.

Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports

3. North Texas at UTEP: This one probably shouldn’t have been that close for the Mean Green but coming off a heartbreaking loss to Louisiana Tech some hangover was to be expected. I won’t take credit away from the Miners in this game though they played one of the top teams in the conference down to the wire. Mason Fine played up to his normal level but it would be a late touchdown for Nick Smith that won the game for North Texas but UTEP almost came back by making it a three point game with five minutes left. It was too little, too late though and the Mean Green get the road win, 27-24.

Top dogs of the week

It is a running back heavy list this week but I’m sure some of you will love that!

1. Jordan Cronkrite- USF, RB: Cronkrite had been playing well for a few weeks now but the former Florida Gator had his breakout performance this week against UMass, going for 302 yard and 3 touchdowns.

Photo by Joseph Garnett Jr./Getty Images

2. Devin Singletary- FAU, RB: The Owls got back to their winning ways this week and Singletary had a lot to do with that. He had 168 yards and two touchdowns and in doing so became the school’s all time leading rusher.

Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

3. The San Diego State defense: I guess I do this every week now but the Aztecs held the murder smurfs to just 13 points and forced two interceptions.

Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports

4. Elijah Mitchell- Louisiana, RB: The Rajun-Cajuns got a much needed win against Texas State and it was in part because of Mitchell’s performance. He had 191 yards with three touchdowns.

Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

5. Jordan Love- Utah State, QB: Love may not have accumulated a ton of yards but he did account for FOUR touchdowns through the air in a romping of rival BYU.

Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

Upsets of the week

1. Air Force over Navy: I always love when the service academies play each other and this was no different. Both of these teams had been... bad to be nice coming into this one but a win could mean the difference in their seasons. The Falcons quarterback DJ Hammond went out early but came back to rush for three touchdowns and help his team beatdown the Midshipmen, 35-7. What is going on at the Naval academy? More on that later.

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

2. UAB over Louisiana Tech: The Bulldogs were rolling into this one off of a season defining win against North Texas but instead of using that to push their season forward they slept on the Blazers. This one was never that close outside of the first quarter and that would be the only points the Bulldogs put up all night. The UAB defense shut them down and their offense would rattle off 28 straight points for the win, 28-7. This win put the Blazers right back into the C-USA title race.

In the dog house

1. Scottie Montgomery- ECU, HC: I’m sure you saw this coming and it may be a little unfair given the improvement the Pirates have made this year like beating North Carolina but that hasn’t necessarily translated to more wins. ECU lost this week to Temple, 49 to 6 in a game where they were never even competitive in. Is this Montgomery’s last season as the Pirates head man? That is looking more realistic every week unless some major turnaround is on the way.

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

2. Phillip Montgomery- Tulsa, HC: Same last name, same problems. The Golden Hurricanes gave up double digit lead and were outscored 24 to 3 in a lopsided loss to Houston on Thursday. This comes in a season where they almost upset Texas, blew a late lead against Arkansas State and got beat down by Temple. There’s been a pattern of this since Montgomery arrived and while Tulsa isn’t going backwards it certainly isn’t going forward? Is it time for the Golden Hurricane to look elsewhere?

Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Tweet of the week

1. Probably the best Aggies in all of college football too, tbh.

2. The Coogs making a lot of people nervous

3. This would alarm me and I don’t even know you

Final thoughts

1. What is going on in Annapolis?: I don’t necessarily have the answer to that but Navy has been uncharacteristically bad this season. A lopsided loss to Hawaii earlier in the year, giving SMU it’s first win of the season and now a blowout loss to rival Air Force who is in the middle of their own tough season. Can the Midshipmen turn it around? They have games against Notre Dame, Houston, Temple, Cincinnati, UCF and Army. All games are admittedly ones that Navy could lose. For the first time in a long time Navy sits in third place among the service academies.

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

2. The American has multiple ranked teams now: Deservedly so! With the new batch of polls coming out on Sunday UCF had two new companions with them. USF comes in at #23 and Cincinnati comes in at #25. The best part about this? It gives these three teams more than one game against a ranked opponent on their schedule (they all play each other.) Can these team stay unbeaten until then?

3. The Conference-USA is... still interesting: Did you have FIU and Middle Tennessee battling it out for the top spot in the east? Me either. What about UAB beating Louisiana Tech the week after knocking off North Texas? Nooooope. That same North Texas team struggling with UTEP? Nah. UTSA tied for first in the division? The West is... confusing. I said it last week and I’ll say it again this is the most entertaining conference in the group of five. Well the most unpredictable at least.

4. We should enjoy Ed Oliver while we can: No deep analysis here but every time Houston plays we should watch. Oliver is a once in a decade type player and we should relish in him before he takes his game to Sunday’s. Did I mention he leads all defensive tackles with FORTY tackles this year? Also it takes three people to stop him...

BONUS:

HEYYYYYYYYYYY MOMMA ROCK MEEEEE